2026 WELLNESS & LEISURE TRAVEL TRENDS: WHAT IS ATTRACTING INTERNATIONAL VISITORS TO VIETNAM?

Vietnam Tourism Maintains Growth Momentum in the First 7 Months of 2026

Nearly 14 Million International Visitors and Positive Signals During the Off-Season

After 7 months, Vietnam welcomed 13.9 million international visitors, a 13.8% increase over the same period and completing about 56% of the 25 million target. July alone reached 1.67 million arrivals, up 6.6% compared to July 2025.

A positive point is that July falls within the low season for international visitors to Vietnam, yet the volume remained nearly equal to June. Compared to the 1.678 million arrivals in June, July only decreased by about 0.5%, showing that demand did not weaken significantly as the summer began.

Pressure to Achieve the Target of 25 Million International Visitors

However, while nearly 14 million visitors is a positive result, to complete the 25 million target, Vietnam must welcome approximately 11.1 million more guests in the last 5 months of the year, equivalent to an average of about 2.22 million guests per month. Meanwhile, the average for the first 7 months only reached nearly 1.99 million arrivals/month.

This means the 25 million target is still feasible but not easy. From August to December, the number of visitors needs to be about 12% higher than the average of the first 7 months. Vietnam must take excellent advantage of the year-end international peak season while avoiding shocks related to geopolitics, fuel, exchange rates, flight routes, or natural disasters.

Increasingly Diverse Structure of International Markets

China and South Korea Continue to Be the Two Pillar Markets

The market structure is becoming more diverse, but Northeast Asia remains the pillar. China continues to lead with about 3.1 million arrivals, accounting for 22.2%; South Korea stands second with 2.4 million arrivals. These two markets combined account for nearly 40% of total international visitors.

Compared to the 6-month data, in July alone, it is estimated that Vietnam welcomed approximately:

* 400,000 Chinese visitors;

* 240,000 South Korean visitors;

* 121,000 Russian visitors;

* 56,000 Japanese visitors.

These are only approximate calculations based on rounded figures in the report, but they show that China and South Korea still generate very large absolute numbers of visitors.

International Visitor Markets Expanding Beyond Northeast Asia

A point of progress is that the Top 10 is no longer focused solely on Northeast Asia. Russia, the United States, Australia, India, Cambodia, and the Philippines are all present, reflecting a more diverse international visitor market.

This is an important movement. Vietnam still needs large volumes of visitors from nearby markets to ensure aviation, hotel, and service capacity, but at the same time must develop long-haul markets to increase length of stay and spending.

Russia and Europe Create New Momentum for Vietnam Tourism

Russian Market Recovers Strongly and Surpasses Pre-Pandemic Levels

Russia is the most prominent phenomenon. Russia reached 864,000 arrivals, an increase of up to 174%, maintaining third place among source markets and ranking first in Europe.

Notably, the number of Russian visitors is now more than double that of the same period in 2019. This proves that the recovery is not just an effect of the low base in 2025, but has surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Three factors are supporting the Russian market:

* Direct flights have been restored and increased in frequency;

* Demand for escaping winter and long-stay beach vacations;

* Vietnam has advantages in price, climate, resorts, and favorable length of stay.

However, the rapid growth rate also raises issues regarding service capacity: Russian-speaking tour guides, receptionists, customer care staff, menus, medical services, payments, and digital content in Russian have not yet kept pace. If visitor numbers increase without a corresponding increase in service capacity, Vietnam may miss the opportunity to turn Russia’s return into a sustainable market.

European Visitors Drive Trends for Long-Stay Travel and Deep Experiences

Europe increased by 53.4%: growth is showing signs of “quality improvement,” increasing by an average of 53.4%, the highest among all regions. Besides Russia, Poland increased by 51.3%, the Czech Republic by 28.6%, Sweden by 24.7%, and Switzerland by 21.7%.

This result has greater significance than the number of visitors itself.

European visitors typically have:

* Long travel distances;

* Long holidays;

* Demand for visiting multiple regions;

* Relatively high spending levels;

* Interest in culture, heritage, nature, and sustainability.

The strong growth of this group shows that the visa exemption policy is proving effective. But a visa only helps a guest decide to come. To make them stay longer, Vietnam needs more rail tourism, cycling, trekking, wellness, craft villages, agricultural experiences, community tourism, and 14–21 day multi-regional itineraries.

Therefore, the observation in a Vietnam Tourism report that Europe is showing a “shift in quality” is well-founded. However, to fully confirm this, the tourism industry needs to publish additional indicators such as length of stay, average spending, repeat rates, and revenue by market.

India and the Philippines Expand Potential for Resort Tourism and Events

India and the Philippines continue to be two priority markets. The Philippines reached 417,000 arrivals, up 63.6%, while India reached 553,000 arrivals, up 42.9%.

The Philippines has advantages in:

* Close proximity;

* Convenient English communication;

* Demand for resorts, cuisine, and shopping;

* Potential for intra-regional air connectivity.

India has greater potential in terms of scale, especially in segments such as:

* Destination weddings;

* MICE;

* Multi-generational families;

* Beach resorts;

* High-end guests;

* Cinema;

* Spiritual tourism.

With 553,000 arrivals after 7 months, India has the potential to approach or exceed the one million mark if air connectivity and products continue to expand.

But the Indian market cannot be developed through general promotion alone. Vietnam needs teams that understand rituals, vegetarian cuisine, Jain food, large group needs, event spaces, service timing, and the booking behavior of Indian guests.

Intra-ASEAN Tourism Still Has Significant Room for Growth

ASEAN is growing fast but still has great potential. Cambodia increased by 40.8%, Singapore by 31%, Indonesia by 27.3%, and Malaysia by 21.6%. This shows that intra-ASEAN tourism continues to be an important driver.

The advantages of this group are:

* Short flight times;

* Easy to develop city breaks;

* Guests likely to visit multiple times;

* Suitable for festivals, events, shopping, cuisine, and weekend entertainment.

However, Vietnam has not yet fully exploited the advantages of an ASEAN market of over 680 million people. We need more 3–5 day products, weekend flights, event tours, music, sports, food festivals, and more flexible city break packages.

Long-Haul Markets Open Opportunities to Enhance Tourism Value

The steady increase in long-haul markets is a very good signal. The United States increased by 18.3%, Canada by 25.1%, Australia by 22.5%, and New Zealand by 22.4%.

These are all markets with good spending levels and lengths of stay. Growth of over 20% from Australia, Canada, and New Zealand shows that Vietnam is gaining clearer appeal among long-haul travelers.

However, weaknesses remain:

* Lack of some direct flight routes;

* Long-stay resort products are not yet diverse enough;

* Nightlife and shopping activities are still limited;

* Intra-regional connectivity is not yet seamless;

* Marketing content tailored to each market is not deep enough.

Conditions for Vietnam to Complete the Goal of 25 Million International Visitors

To reach 25 million visitors, the last 5 months of the year must average about 2.22 million arrivals per month.

This level is high but not impossible, as January and February 2026 both exceeded 2.2 million arrivals, with January reaching about 2.45 million.

Conditions to achieve the goal include:

* China continues to recover strongly;

* South Korea remains stable;

* Russia faces no flight disruptions;

* Europe benefits from winter and visa exemptions;

* India, ASEAN, and Australia continue to grow;

* Aviation has sufficient operational capacity;

* Promotion goes hand-in-hand with products that can be sold immediately;

* Destinations do not compete through excessive price reductions.

Vietnam Tourism Needs to Shift from Increasing Visitor Numbers to Enhancing Value

The report clearly shows visitor numbers and growth rates, but has not yet answered four important questions:

How long do guests stay?

13.9 million arrivals do not yet indicate the total number of overnight stays and the differences between each market.

How much do guests spend?

Increasing European and long-haul visitors is seen as a shift in quality, but spending data is needed for verification.

Where do guests go in Vietnam?

National figures do not yet show the distribution between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, Phu Quoc, Hue, and new destinations.

Do guests return?

The ratio of first-time vs. repeat visitors is a very important indicator for a mature destination.

Therefore, the next phase of Vietnam’s tourism statistics should supplement KPIs for length of stay, visitor spending, repeat rate, and revenue per visitor, instead of just focusing on the number of entries.

Linking Destination Ecosystems for Longer Stays and More Experiences

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Hotel Association, the result of nearly 14 million international visitors in the first 7 months shows that policies on visas, aviation connectivity, and tourism promotion are proving effective. However, to maintain sustainable growth momentum, the tourism industry needs to shift from the mindset of promoting individual destinations to building linked destination ecosystems. Each locality needs to develop characteristic products such as beach resorts, heritage, culture, cuisine, wellness, golf, community tourism, or ecology, while connecting them into multi-regional itineraries so that visitors stay longer, experience more, and return many times. According to him, this approach not only helps increase the length of stay and spending levels of tourists but also distributes visitor flows more reasonably, reducing pressure on overcrowded destinations while creating development opportunities for many localities with high potential that have not been adequately exploited.

13.9 million visitors is an encouraging result. But the more important figure will be the amount of value those visitors leave behind for hotels, restaurants, retail, transportation, culture, the community, and the local economy.

In other words: “The target of 25 million visitors is still important to absorb supply and create jobs. But the measure of Vietnam tourism’s maturity must be that each guest stays longer, spends more, and has more reasons to return.”